Question
QUESTION: I was shoot about 19 mouths ago incomplete injury paraplegic at first they said i will been this way for ever but in july i stared Physical Therapy i let her know that i wanted to walk so she put me device called empi 300 and scend july i got bowel control.i can even lift my legs 4 or 5 times without stopping. i want to get my life back but its so draining  sometimes i wonder if i can do it.so do you have any advice to keep me going.

ANSWER: hi john

i totally sympathize. it is nearly unendurable at first, no matter if your injury is complete or not. it is a hard road.

my best advice is to focus on the small gains with your therapy, and to not neglect the other aspects of your life. your life before didn't consist of just walking- there is still the part of you that needs to hang around with friends, do whatever you enjoyed before. you know what i mean?

you can't go back in life, right? so think about what you want to go forward to-

ha- i'm not the best cheerleader, huh? what has gotten me to a place where i have a certain amount of inner peace is stubbornness. that, and a black sense of humor...

sorry for the philosophical rambling. guess what i'm trying to say is keep sight of your goals, but appreciate things along the way.

good luck to you-
leslie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: And more one thing the muscle spasms in my legs. i use a motorize foot exerciser that helps a bit but Baclufen does nothing and the spasms make it harder to walk is there any thing better than Baclufen out there for muscle spasms?

Answer
best i've got for you there is stretching the muscles alot seems to help. all the meds (baclofen, valerian) will have side effects but you can ask a doc and see how you might tolerate them.

botox works as well, but not if you want to use the muscles sometimes (since it paralyzes the muscle)

swimming always helped mine too
leslie